Ninth graders averaged 44.8 percent in science assessment
Wednesday 16th September 2026 on 06:45 in
Latvia
Ninth-grade students in Latvia scored an average of 44.8 percent in last year’s science diagnostic assessment, LSM reported, citing data compiled by the State Education Development Agency.
Students performed better on tasks testing knowledge and understanding than on skills-based tasks. The average score was 56.8 percent for knowledge and understanding, compared with 35.7 percent for skills.
Among different literacy dimensions, students performed best in the “knows and applies” category, with an average score of 54.7 percent. The lowest result was in “analytical reasoning,” at 29.2 percent.
Results were relatively similar across the three science subjects. Students averaged 49.5 percent in biology, 43.6 percent in physics and 42.3 percent in chemistry.
The science assessment produced the lowest average result among the major tests taken by students completing basic education last year. The average score was 56.2 percent in the ninth-grade Latvian language centralised examination, 54.8 percent in mathematics and 70 percent in the English-language monitoring assessment.
The State Education Development Agency said data comparing general education schools and state gymnasiums were not currently available.
This academic year, ninth-grade students will take a centralised science examination. Unlike monitoring assessments, the examination will involve external observers, making its administration and results more objective, the agency said. Schools will also be able to use examination results as a selection criterion when admitting students to 10th grade, and students will receive a certificate for passing the examination.
Students will not yet have to reach a minimum score for the basic education science examination to count as passed. This differs from the mathematics and Latvian language examinations.
The examination’s content and structure will be similar to last year’s diagnostic assessment. Biology, physics and chemistry will each account for approximately 35 percent of the examination.